[The image in his second tweet is a group shot of slave Leia cosplayers.) This kind of attitude is really common and really destructive. It reduces cosplayers down to objects, and suggests that they are NOT fellow geeks, but actually decoration. They are only there to serve as fantasy fodder for male geeks. You know, the actual PEOPLE in this equation. (A good sign you're objectifying women: you're comparing them to food.) It's gross. So I told him so.

Here's the thing: "sexuality" is not about objectifying women. Actual sexuality is *being sexual.* Drooling over cosplay women, calling them "girls," and suggesting that their fandom and cosplaying are just there to get you off? That's not sexuality. That's just you being gross.

I thought I might actually be getting somewhere, so I tried to appeal to the side of him that may NOT want women to feel excluded from geek communities. I tried to point out that there is actual harm in this kind of nonsense. And his response was bullshit. (Are you seeing a pattern? Because I was.) He may have called my feminism outdated '90s shit, but his thinking is really like that. Sexism COUNTS, even when you don't offend the woman in question, or if you didn't do it on purpose.

Aron ChinIf cosplayers truly do it for themselves, why do they bother gathering in conventions under the peering eyes of hundreds of other self proclaimed geeks? When...If cosplayers truly do it for themselves, why do they bother gathering in conventions under the peering eyes of hundreds of other self proclaimed geeks? When you specifically dress up in scanty attire whilst in a public scenario, you'd better be prepared for this kind response. This goes for both sexes.more2014-03-22T14:37:44.123Z

ohthatoneI don't feel objectified when people find me attractive. I just feel attractive. And I had many, MANY compliments and flirtations at G1 while I was in drag, so...I don't feel objectified when people find me attractive. I just feel attractive. And I had many, MANY compliments and flirtations at G1 while I was in drag, so it's not just being half-clothed that the geek guys love.more2013-09-07T15:16:04.918Z

Marissa Armstrongwhile Pegg's original comment strikes me as less than malicious, the way that he responded in the resulting conversation is inexcusable. 2012-11-02T19:11:34.130Z

Corbo MiteAre men objectifying women a problem? Yes. Are women on crusades to be offended by men also a problem? Yes again. Sometimes it's very hard to tell if a...Are men objectifying women a problem? Yes. Are women on crusades to be offended by men also a problem? Yes again. Sometimes it's very hard to tell if a situation is one, the other, or both. I think if you take an outfit that was designed to have exactly this effect on men, and then wear it in public, either a skimpy cosplay at a convention or a skimpy bathing suit to a beach, you know exactly what is going to be going through the minds of the men who see you. However it is also incumbent on the men to oggle in a tasteful manner and not make lewd remarks. Though frankly, the inability to express that women are pretty without being accused of something is everything that men have hated about feminism since the 60s.more2012-08-14T14:28:41.507Z

VXLbeastPeople like you looking for a fight make me sick. I hope you feel great about yourself now that you won your little war. 2012-08-13T20:42:51.074Z

Stella_OmegaThe people who damage the reputation of geeks are the ones who do shitty things-- not the people who talk about the shitty things these guys have done. 2012-07-31T22:08:48.129Z

Andrew DiNannoCourtney I think you completely overreacted. Simon Pegg was just admiring those women. What you have done could easily scare women away from cosplaying and...Courtney I think you completely overreacted. Simon Pegg was just admiring those women. What you have done could easily scare women away from cosplaying and geekdom in general. People like you damage the reputation of all geeks. None of this would have happened if you hadn't complained to him about it. I think you have anger issues you need to deal with. Go see a therapist.more2012-07-29T16:25:20.216Z

Stephen WorthingtonGratification =/= objectification. The fact that Pegg take pleasure in cosplayers doesn't mean that he believes that they exist solely for his pleasure. If...Gratification =/= objectification. The fact that Pegg take pleasure in cosplayers doesn't mean that he believes that they exist solely for his pleasure. If cosplayers don't want to feel objectified, they should either interpret comments like Pegg's as validations of their sexuality. Claiming that men who use food-metaphors to express their sexual gratification do so in order to dehumanize women is an obsecenely hasty generalization at best, and misandristic at worst.more2012-07-27T05:02:21.495Z

Andrew LloydPegg basically said he found women who dress up a certain way attractive and nothing else in his original tweet. And this is news? Courtney, yours is one...Pegg basically said he found women who dress up a certain way attractive and nothing else in his original tweet. And this is news? Courtney, yours is one massive and misplaced over-reaction.more2012-07-25T07:04:09.640Z